Gnocchi Skillet with Chicken Sausage & Tomatoes

Serves 4

1 pound gnocchi
Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
9 ounces (about 3 links) cooked chicken sausage, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick coins
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
1 to 2 ounces fresh basil, julienned (1/2 to 1 cup loosely packed)

Heat a large pot of salted water to boiling; cook the gnocchi for 2 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and toss with a drizzle of olive oil.

Heat a 10-inch or larger cast iron skillet over medium heat with a light drizzle of olive oil. Add the sausage and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until it begins to brown. Push the sausage into a pile at the edge of the skillet and turn the heat up to high.

When the skillet is quite hot, add the tomatoes, skin down, crowding them in if necessary. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until they are blistered, then stir in with the sausage. Cook for 2 more minutes, until both tomatoes and sausage are slightly browned. Stir in gnocchi and cook just until all is combined, but the tomatoes have not broken down into sauce.

Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

• Any cooked chicken sausage is good in this dish, although I do prefer one with a little extra flavor added, like red peppers or garlic.
• I specify a cast iron skillet because I think it gives the best color and sear to the tomatoes and sausage. However, any deep skillet or sauté pan should work as well, provided it doesn't have a nonstick coating, which will interfere with browning.

From the kitchn, posted here.

Upscale hotdish

We ran into the public library and grabbed about 20 books just before closing Saturday (architectural house styles, home renovation, and interior design--the latter to help us with ideas for colors, etc.), then wanted to go straight to the grocery store to shop. Of course, we hadn't planned meals for the following days, so on the way out to the libary Kels grabbed a huge stack of saved NYT magazine food pages, and then checked out that Bittman book The Best Recipes in the World (the jury is decidedly still out) from the library. We sat in Whole Foods drinking coffee and trying to decide what to make, and I came across this comfort food casserole that we hadn't tried, from Julia Reed in the New York Times Magazine on 10.26.03. It's not amazing, but as casseroles go, it's no banana goulash either.

Spinach and Artichoke Casserole
1 T. butter for greasing baking dish, 1/2 cup butter, melted for casserole, plus 1 T., melted, for topping
2 (10 oz.) packages frozen chopped spinach
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1/2 cup coarse Ritz cracker crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a shallow 2 qt. casserole.
2. Cook the spinach according to package directions, drain well, and place in a mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup of melted butter, the cream cheese and lemon juice and blend well with a fork.
3. Scatter the artichoke quarters evenly over the bottom of the greased casserole dish. Cover with the spinach mixture and smooth the top.
4. Cover the top with the Ritz crumbs, drizzle with 1 T. melted butter, and bake on the middle rack until bubbly in the center and lightly browned on top, about 25 minutes. Cool about 5 minutes and serve.

We didn't have any lemons (oops), so I put in a splash of apple cider vinegar. We also didn't have Ritz crackers so I used panko. Otherwise made according to the recipe, and served with some sausages.

Banana Goulash

One of the best recipes in the world? We made this last week, and though it wasn't terrible, but it was a bit odd. It seemed funnier to us every time we reheated the leftovers. I'm not sure we'll make it again.

Plantain and Meat Casserole (Caribbean)

2 tbl. olive oil
2 lb. ground beef
salt and pepper to taste
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 red or green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1 tbl. minced garlic
1 tbl. paprika
1 tbl. ground cumin
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 cups chopped tomatoes (canned are fine)
1 recipe Platanos Maduros (3-4 fried ripe plantains, sliced lengthwise)
2 eggs, lightly beaten, optional


1. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Put the oil in a large skillet and turn the heat to medium-high. A minute later, ass the mean and some salt and pepper and cook, stirring to break up lumps, until it loses its color, just a couple of minutes. Remove with a a slotted spoon and add the onion and bell pepper. Cook, stirring occassionally, until quite soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, cumin, oregano, and tomatoes and some more salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is saucy, 15 to 20 minutes.

3. Return the beef to the sauce and cook for another 5 minutes; taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Use about a third of the sauce to make a thin layer at the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch square casserole dish. Top with a layer of plantains, then more sauce, then the remaining plantains, then the remaining sauce. Pour the eggs over all if you like. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until heated through.

Mark Bittman, The Best Recipes in the World